One of the benefits of our yoga practice is its ability to bring us back to our own centre - often simply through noticing and the tiniest recalibration. Every pose, every breath, every unhelpful thought, sensation or experience, and every way we aren't fully there for ourself - IF noticed with compassionate and curious awareness - is an opportunity to return...

From Danna Faulds:

​"Being Home: Where can I soften in this posture? Where is the edge between opening and force, the line between stretch and too much effort? The mind and body serve up a feast of feelings, each breath another chance to deepen and release. The smallest motion, or even just a quiet sigh could be all that I require to shift my focus from the outer to the inner realm, a change from feeling lost to being home."

Deepening into our practice does not necessarily mean 'harder' or more complex poses, but rather a deeper level of attention and presence, and a compassionate and curious willingness 'not-to-know'. We are drawn into the heart of the practice, the rhythm of the breath and the core of ourselves...

From Danna Faulds:

"The call to deeper practice comes, and I respond before I catch myself. All that I am is drawn inside as if pulled by the strongest tide, a current flowing in only one direction...What does this practice look like? Slow movement paired with breath, attunement, trust and surrender. I listen within. Called forward, I let go into the unknown."

We'll continue to explore the breath... Pranayama or yogic breathing is often translated to mean breath "control" but perhaps more accurately refers to the awareness and expansion of the breath. Arguably, life knows how to breath us if we will only get out of the way. Especially for beginning practitioners, it is only once we know our breath intimately, and can allow ease and naturalness there, that it is appropriate to begin changing or regulating it.

For our reading, we return to the inimitable Danna Faulds:

"Life proceeds breath by breath. Deep, full and easy, shallow or uneven, breathing is the key to cultivating peace. Breath by breath choose to stay present. It isn't success you are seeking, but surrender to the flow of energy. It's not control that matters but letting go, allowing life exactly as it is in this moment to touch and change and breathe through you."

Have a gorgeous week

Author

Misha Butot RCSW, ERYT 500 is a longtime clinical social worker and senior yoga teacher living in Victoria, BC